Clarity
by slickchick84
Summary: Archie's death and Cora's arrival forces Emma to see Regina in a different light. So Emma tries to be the savior Henry thinks she is and decides that Regina might need saving more then anyone else, whether she likes it or not (she doesn't). Question is what will she do when she realizes that sometimes love sneaks in while you're fumbling spells and neutering pirates? SwanQueen
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I haven't written anything in a very long time, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes and the fact that it's a bit, rough shall we say? So consider yourselves warned:) Also I don't own the characters of OUAT, blah blah blah, please don't sue me.

P.S: This is basically my AU version of the last episode where Archie is very dead and the town is very angry about it and wow, Cora really knows how to screw over her own daughter. Starts all angsty, but this will be more humor then anything else eventually in later chapters, because I'm incapable of keeping things serious.

**Clarity**

_**Chapter 1: A New Understanding**_

Their near fatal mistake in the beginning is their blind belief that Regina is their greatest threat. Bitter, broken and lost Regina who lays eyes on her mother and shivers like a wet dog in fear.

Emma can practically taste that fear the way she could when she was ten and staying with a family that had a little boy, sweet Paul with his big brown eyes and red hair, when he spilled juice all over the family's new couch. Paul's father, a big man with big hands and no heart to talk of, had picked the boy up by the scruff of his neck and flung him carelessly into a wall. It was a soundless affair, Paul hardly daring to breathe in case it set his father off again, so Emma remembers the overbearing smell of fear induced sweat on his skin and the coppery tang of blood from his head stinging her nostrils rather than shouting and whimpering.

Now almost nineteen years later that same combination hits her, _bloodfeardesperation_, makes her swallow heavily, makes her step falter. She'd spotted Regina near the town hall moments before, had walked with conviction towards her to demand an answer, to demand a reason for doing to Archie what she did, for why she could let Henry down like that. Then all the colour had drained from Regina's face and when Emma looked to her left, she had spotted Cora in all her wicked glory.

"Regina?"

It's too late though, too late to stop dwarves and wolves and once noblemen as they rush past her and circle Regina, prey finally caught and cornered. Archie's heartless body the only proof they had needed that Regina was unchanged, that this fairytale would only ever have the one villain. Emma knew better though, knew it the second Regina turned brown eyes upon her and the desperate fear in them pushed heavily against her chest.

When Regina simply mouths Henry's name, Emma recognizes the silent plea. The boy is in danger now and Emma must protect him, because Regina can't, or won't be able to.

Not with Cora here.

Because for all of Emma's disbelief of Henry's book of fairytales, she had still read some of the stories. Read of the stable boy who's heart had been crushed because Regina had loved him, because her mother wanted to teach her that love would only ever be a weakness for her. So Henry would be hurt, because despite a whole world proving her mother right time and time again, Regina had never really learnt her lesson.

Regina's heart would always be her downfall, because the darkest magic and the strongest hate could simply not extinguish it's magnitude for love.

So Emma stands there and blinks hard, tries not to cry as she thinks of those dogs bred for fights, thinks of pitbulls with missing ears and scarred faces. Thinks of how when they're rescued they snap and growl at the hands that reach for them, because before that moment no human hand had reached out to them for any other reason then to inflict pain. It breaks her heart then, because sometimes with enough time and love and care, those dogs turn out to be the best pets once they trust you enough to love you back.

Right this minute in Storybrook though, people are demanding the dog be put down.

"Step the hell away from her, or I swear to God I'll pepper spray the whole lot of you!"

She would too, because while she knows and cares for a lot of the people before her individually, as a group seeking bloody revenge she will quite willingly inflict some pain upon them.

"Shove it, Sheriff! Archie's dead because of your bleeding heart approach to the Evil Queen here, so now we do it our way!"

Leroy's way involves shoving a baseball bat into the small of Regina's back and forcing her face first onto the ground, all the while _completely _ignoring the other obviously Evil Queen standing mere feet away enjoying the show.

"Leroy, yank that angry stick out of your ass for five seconds and _listen _to me! Regina isn't exactly the problem right now!"

She shoulders through the small mob, ignoring Dr Whale's protests and Ruby's angry eyes, taking Leroy by the shoulder and yanking him off Regina.

"Are you blind?! The Queen of Hearts, her freaking heart stealing mother, is standing 30 feet away from us and you think Regina was the only one capable of doing that to Archie?"

Leroy blinks slowly, takes a breath and tries to take a look in the direction Emma is pointing, but he's the only one that seems to hear her as the mob around her just seems to get louder. There's also suddenly a lot more people around, Snow and James among them, Hook and quite a few obvious goons that Emma doesn't know trailing behind an advancing Cora.

It's Snow that seems to understand the urgency as she fights her way towards the middle, words flung hastily at Emma.

"Emma! She followed us, I don't know how, but she found a way through!"

It's stating the obvious, honestly she has _eyes_, but Emma has no time to say as much, because at that moment Hook draws his sword and his goons have muskets raised as they stand in a half moon behind the mob. Chaos erupts when the first shot rings out and Emma knows that there will be casualties, knows it because she can hear the bodies drop.

It's instinct that carries her through those first moments. Snow and James are somewhere to her right, bow and sword at the ready as they press onwards to where Cora stands, while the rest of the residents of Storybrook scatter in panic. Emma doesn't take time to think it through, she simply drags Regina to her feet and heads for the nearest building.

They would have made it too in all the confusion if it weren't for Cora. One moment Emma has a hand wrapped firmly around Regina's upper arm, the next she's the one eating dirt face first. It sounds like heaven decided to split open above her, thunder cracking and wind suddenly howling fiercely as she pushes herself up.

"Oh darling daughter, did you really think I wouldn't come and pay you a visit when I heard of this last little failure of yours?"

When Emma turns it's to the sight of Regina suspended in mid air before Cora, her friends and family scattered around fighting for their lives with differing degrees of success and Gold standing in the distance. Gold, who had manipulated every person in this town, who had planned and plotted for years to what end Emma could only guess, the only person she could think of that might actually know how to put an end to it all.

So with renewed strength she ignores every instinct that tells her to run in the _opposite _direction of Gold and towards her parents and Regina, and heads directly towards him. When she stops in front of Gold, no, _Rumpelstiltskin_, and he smiles his little smile, Emma knows she's either done exactly the right thing or just signed all their death certificates.

"Emma, dear, looks like you're having quite the party."

Curbing the urge to shove his walking stick right up his ass, she gives him a rather brilliant smile.

"Seems like it, yeah, and I was actually wondering if you'd like to join us. Maybe do a party trick or two?"

He chuckles lightly, tosses his walking stick from left hand to right and straightens his tie.

"Well, I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but I've been known to put on a good show when the occasion calls for it. If the price is right, you understand?"

For a moment Emma feels doubt, remembers that even Regina is weary of this man before her and that her own mother and father had imprisoned him once upon a time in Fairytale land. Yet as she looks behind her, she knows she doesn't have much choice, not when Regina doesn't have enough of her own magic back to defend herself against Cora, much less keep Henry save.

It's that thought, of Henry and his safety and how she knows Regina expects her to make sure nothing happens to him that makes the decision for her.

"Then name your price, _Gold_, but make sure I enjoy the show or I'll find everything in this world or any other that you love and I'll _destroy _it with my bare hands. Deal?"

He gives her a look, the one he's always given her, that says he knows things she can't possibly even begin to imagine and merely smiles again.

"Well, Miss Swan, seeing as I couldn't possibly refuse such a _charming _proposal, I think it's time we saw to your guests. We can discuss the matter of my payment later, as for now...I believe the term is the show must go on, correct?"

With that he starts to casually stroll towards what is quickly becoming a battlefield and Emma is forced to simply follow along.

./././././././././

_So yeah, a very rough setup so far, I know, but hopefully once I get back into the swing of this whole writing thing, I'll flesh it out some more and have an actual story setup:) So, you know, drop a line if you think it's worth it to continue._


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: _Thanks for the encouragement to continue, it was greatly appreciated!

Chapter 2

Mommy Dearest

The doubt is back tenfold as Emma follows Gold down the street. He shuffles along like it's a nice spring day and he's enjoying the morning sun on his face and Emma has to flex her hands to keep from reaching out and dragging him along faster. She figures physically abusing him would probably be rather counterproductive to their cause, and seeing as the 'cause' is _staying alive_, she settles for biting the inside of her cheek until she can taste blood.

The people of Storybrook, Henry, they all rely on her to make all the right choices, to look witches and dragons in the eye and defeat them with her pure heart and her father's sword and she feels that sit heavily on her, a weight she knows she'll bear simply because no one else can_. She's_ the child born from True Love_. She's_ the Savior.

_She's _five seconds away from puking her guts out.

The best plan their supposed Savior could come up with was to run to the guy that helped curse them to begin with. A guy so slimy and immoral, despite his rather polished clothes, that she knew before the curse even broke that something about him was just wrong. He was the only one whose motivations weren't clear and for all she knew, his idea of helping her get rid of Cora would be to simply give her what she wanted: Regina. An idea she realized most of the people that knew Regina wouldn't be opposed to.

"Uhm, so what's the plan here, Gold? Fire? Brimstone? You going to pull a bunny out a hat?"

They're near enough to the action now that Emma has to take the time to sidestep one of Hook's goons and reach for her gun. Her gun that isn't actually attached to her hip but at home.

Because she's a freakin' _genius._

"Oofh.."

The sword hilt in her stomach feels like punishment enough for that little slip up, so she doesn't give it another thought. She does give the pirate wannabe a bit more of her attention though, but she's not sure he likes it that much. Though Emma will admit there are very few men that will appreciate the force she uses to knee him in the groin with. Shoving him aside she bends and picks up his sword, or cutlass, or whatever the hell it's supposed to be called, and tests the weight of it in her hand.

It's not her gun or James' sword, but it is sharp and pointy and she figures it'll do.

"Before we were so rudely interrupted, I was going to say that I'm going to buy us some time. Cora coming here wasn't unexpected per se, but I'm not one to withhold praise where it's due, she surprised me by coming so soon."

Gold doesn't say anything else, but once again Emma is reminded that everything that had happened, every action that was taken or avoided in the past, had been part of _his_ plan. They were pieces on a chess board and he was playing, she just wasn't sure who his opponent was. Proving to her again that no, Regina was really not the only villain of their particular plot that much was for damn sure.

"Fine, you do what you have to do, I'm going to get Snow and the others away from here."

He shrugs like that doesn't really concern him, like whether Snow and the others live isn't important to him anymore, and she stores that away to think about later.

"You do that, dearie."

Then the air around her gets heavy with…well, she doesn't have an idea what to call it, but everyone else must feel it too, because the fighting comes to a rather abrupt stop.

"Well isn't this a surprise! Don't tell me my daughter managed to trap you here in her _quaint_ little town?"

The derision in her voice is clear and so is who it's aimed at. As if to emphasize this she does something that causes Regina to basically howl with pain. It makes Emma grind her teeth. That sound is one she's heard before, that she's _made_ before. It's fear and helplessness. It's the sound of someone small and weak being hurt by someone big and strong. It nauseates her. It also makes her see such a vibrant shade of red that her anger blinds her to anything else.

"You _asshole_!"

Afterwards she'll thank her lucky stars that Cora is so surprised by Emma's stupidity that the woman simply stands there and gapes at her uncomprehendingly until they make contact. The tackle is solid, her shoulder finding that sweet soft spot in Cora's stomach that means the woman makes a rather unflattering wheezing sound as they hit the ground.

She thinks she hears something crack, not sure if it's Cora's head hitting the gravel or her own shoulder popping out, but seconds later it doesn't really matter. Not when she's spinning through the air at an alarming rate and being thumped into the ground not so gently.

"Emma!"

Snow and James are at her side in seconds while she tries to figure out how to do the whole breathing thing again. It should be easy really, in and out, newborn babies do it every day since the dawning of time, but damned if Emma can manage it right that moment.

Hands are on her then, Snow squeezing her face in her palms and James lifting her shoulders up and wrapping an arm around her to support her. That at least makes the whole breathing thing seem a fraction easier.

"That's it, Emma, take a deep breath, we've got you."

She does as James says, takes breath after breath and even if it feels like forever before her chest stops burning, she's sure it's no more than a few seconds. It couldn't be, because when she focuses on what's going on around her Cora is still on her back and barely anyone has moved.

That finally clues her in on who sent her flying.

"What the hell, Gold?!"

He chuckles while she struggles to stand up, shrugging off her…well, her parent's hands as they try to keep her still.

"I said I'd take care of Cora, dear, and I don't really take kindly to interference. You'd do well to remember that for as long our agreement stands."

She wants to argue, wants to plant her fist squarely in his squirrely face, but she's hit her stupid quota for the day even in her own eyes.

She still manages a marvelous eye roll though.

"I'll try and make a note of that."

By now Cora is sitting up, but Emma and even Regina seems to be forgotten as she sets angry eyes on Gold.

"You've aligned yourself with these pitiful fools, Rumpelstiltskin? You betray me like my weakling of a daughter? What kind of a game are you playing?!"

It's really the question of the hour, but Emma ignores it to take note of the fact that despite being spitting angry, Cora is careful not to attack him. She's strong, Emma knows this, but Cora's caution when it comes to Gold is something that she herself is quite willing to exploit.

It gives her steps certainty as she walks to where Regina is kneeling, palms and knees baring her weight shakily. The hand that she lays against Regina's back is gentle, careful. A hurt animal is the wildest of all…

"We need to go, can you get up?"

The look on Regina's face when she turns towards Emma is hard to describe. There's pain there, it's blatantly obvious in the downwards pull of her mouth, but where Emma had expected blistering rage there is only…

Desolation is maybe a good word, or even devastation, but in the end she settles on anguish.

It is anguish that turns Regina's skin a sickly grey color, that has her eyes blinking slow and dazed, tears held at bay by what she guesses is Regina's last scrap of pride.

"Where would I go, Emma…" Her voice trembles on Emma's name, its unease at using it clear even now. "Where would I go where she wouldn't find me?"

Emma doesn't have an answer to that, so she shrugs her shoulders and trails her hand down Regina's arm and takes a firm grip on her wrist.

"The only thing I know is that Henry is waiting, Regina." It sticks in her throat a bit, what she knows she needs to say next, because she might understand this woman a little bit better, but she also has a hundred or so reasons to genuinely despise her. "He's waiting for _both_ of us."

It does what it needs to do.

Regina breathes in deeply, bites down on her lip and pushes herself up off the dirt. Her clothes are dusty and Emma belatedly realizes that blood is slowly trickling from her nose, but Regina pushes her shoulders back and looks every bit the mayor, or Emma supposes, Queen that she is.

It's both a frightening and welcome sight.

"That's all well and good, Miss Swan, but it doesn't change the fact that some expectations cannot be met, for reasons out of one's own control."

Her eyes track over to Cora and Emma feels Regina's fear, sees the tension in her shoulders and shares it to some extent even.

"That might be true, Regina, but today is not that day."

She turns then and when she looks to Gold he nods, like he's been waiting for her signal all along. He hasn't though, she's not dumb enough to think she has any sort of control in what he does, but the man has some dramatic flair when he wants to.

"You, Cora, have displeased me a great deal today. I expected more from you then such crass displays of power, but I guess that's what happens when you keep the company of simple pirates. You forget there are other ways of getting things done other than plundering and murdering."

He circles her slowly, cane tapping rhythmically along with his words and once again everyone stills as the same feeling as before creeps into the air. Emma knows what it is this time though, it's Gold.

It's raw power, or magic, that swirls around them all as he focuses on Cora, mocking her with each word, each slow step.

"See, want, take. Where's the finesse in that, dear? Or am I giving you too much credit to begin with? You did rip a man's heart out of his chest just to make a point to a teenage girl." He giggles as if that is endlessly amusing to him. "Effective sure, but there were so many subtler, smarter ways to go about that."

There's expectation now with every word he speaks, something heavy that settles over them all, that causes Cora to nervously wet lips in a moment of weakness. Regina is slowly stepping away, her hand almost as an afterthought gripping Emma's belt in the small of her back and tugging her along. She doesn't fight the pull, understand that in some things, especially magic, Regina will always know better than her.

"Guard your words, Dark One, I have learned a thing or two since you and I have last met."

To her credit, Cora's voice doesn't waver, but it's clear this is a move she didn't expect she'd have to make. The wind shifts suddenly, electricity spiking the fine hair at the back of Emma's neck as Cora starts to practically spark.

"Oh hell no, I'm out of here!"

It's Leroy that breaks the strange tension in the air, dropping his now cracked and bloody baseball bat resolutely to the ground and footing it in the opposite direction of Cora and Gold with impressive speed. Emma doesn't really blame him one bit.

"Then try your best, Cora, because I promised the people a show and I'd hate to disappoint them."

The gentle tugging at her belt suddenly becomes a forceful yanking motion, cementing Emma's opinion that the shit?

It was about to hit an industrial sized fan.

Whatever Cora is doing, it's equal part beautiful and terrifying and Emma can't stop herself from watching. Magic, or energy, something that Emma still has so little understanding of, flows from Cora's hands. It twists and flows like water, or the way that fire runs against the ceiling of a burning building, the sound of it all a surprisingly loud buzz.

When those hands shoot out with a golden flourish Emma reactively brings an arm up to shield her face, turning sideways in anticipation of the blast of magic that was surely coming their way. It doesn't happen though.

What does happen is that when that magic flame, or wave or golden stream comes within a quarter inch of Gold's face, he slams his cane hard into the ground one last time. It echoes out around him, like ripples in a pond that shouldn't be able to topple anything heavier than a paper boat.

Emma is though, is much heavier than a paper boat, but it doesn't stop her from toppling over like one. Doesn't stop any of the people around her from hitting the undulating ground beneath them either. The only one left standing is Gold. Cora…

Cora is nowhere to be seen, the patch of road she'd been standing on a shimmering black hole for a few seconds before that, too, fades. Gold straightens his tie again, pats dust off the seam of his pant leg and gives them all a small smile.

"Now if you'd all excuse me, I was meaning to stop at the library before this little distraction came about. Emma, dear, you can take care of the pirates yourself I assume?"

The pirates in question, Hook leading the way, are all scrambling up the road they initially came down from.

"Sure, I'll get right on that the minute I'm able to, you know, walk."

She's quite happy to stay where she is, settles nicely on her back in the road looking up at a rather pleasantly blue and cloudless sky. She would have stayed there too, if it wasn't for Regina apparently finally having a nervous breakdown or at the very least a severe lapse in mental judgment.

"Is she gone? Did you kill her or merely…please just tell me if she's finally gone!"

Regina has him by the lapels of his buttoned up jacket, fingers crushing the material in her desperate hold, showing no regard for her own safety when she shakes him in frustration as he stands there in silence. It's only then that Emma realizes his face is sweaty, that there's a very fine tremor in the hands that he brings up to Regina's wrists.

"Dead she's not, I'm afraid, but that's not something any of us can do here in this realm. I've banished her to where she came from and it will not be a great deal of time, but at least _some_, before she can come back here."

Emma doesn't expect him to admit this weakness here, in front of so many people that are as invested in getting rid of him eventually as they are of Regina. Yet the unspoken truth is clear.

None of them, not even the great Rumpelstiltskin, has the kind of power here that they did in Fairytale land. As Regina had said, magic here was unpredictable.

"So there's no escaping it." With this Regina lets go of Gold, hands dropping down to her thighs to dig nails into her own skin. "She'll be back."

Gold nods slowly, his eyes finally coming to rest on Emma herself.

"Indeed. So, Regina, I think it's rather imperative that we make sure we're prepared for when she does."

As if realizing something she knows she should have sooner, Regina follows Gold's gaze and settles it with determination on Emma. This in no way settles the sudden feeling of dread in Emma's already sick stomach.

"For once, Rumpelstiltskin, you and I can agree on something." Then her shoulders sag and she looks tired, looks as old as she really is despite the smooth skin that hasn't aged a day in twenty eight years. "But it can wait, there's tomorrow, or at least until the bodies have been buried."

As Regina walks away, Emma finally looks around her again. Looks at the people getting up…at the ones that'll never get up again. She can't save everyone, blood slowly soaking into the street before her a very harsh confirmation of this, but she has to try.

All anyone can do is try, that's half the battle won, right?

./././././././././././

_So yeah, hopefully you enjoyed this:) Reviews appreciated, but not expected._


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's** N**ote**: Well, I'm somewhat nervous about posting this chapter since the last one had an incredibly mellow reception, but I rather dislike the version of myself that can't like something I wrote simply because other people didn't share that opinion so I'm posting anyway. So yeah, for the two of you who reviewed and the others that followed this story, thank you very much. I hope it doesn't disappoint;)

_Clarity_

_Chapter 3: Family_

It's hours before Emma has a change to take a moment and just breathe. Once both Gold and Regina had left, it was up to the rest of them to clean up as best they could in the aftermath of Cora's attack. Granted it had been the pirates that had done most of the damage, Cora's attention firmly settled on Regina during the whole confrontation, but to Emma it was all her doing anyway.

Snow had taken charge quickly, ordering Dr Whale to do his best to help those that needed it and asking Emma if she'd coordinate with the hospital on getting those that were beyond help to the morgue. Emma had done it, had made a few phone calls and eventually gone back to the Sheriff's office to get supplies. The hospital had only one vehicle to transport bodies, so she'd cordoned off the street with her seldom used crime scene tape and then covered the bodies with tarps. She hadn't known what else to do, so she'd fallen back on what would have been expected of a law enforcement official at the scene of a violent tragedy.

For once following rules set out by someone else was something she took a little comfort in. It kept her from having to focus on the fact that she knew some of the people lying in the road, that of the twelve bodies on display, seven where Storybrook citizens. It was a fact that pushed up bitterly into the back of her throat and made her swallow down bile more than once.

Three hours later, when the last of the dead was taken in the white van Emma now passionately hated, she stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed the road around her. Leroy, who'd returned half an hour after his initial escape, was still helping to clean up the last of the debris left by both the fight and the one team of EMT's that Storybrook had.

There was nothing he could do about the blood though and it was the thing that bothered Emma the most.

"I think I'll give the fire department a ring, see if they could come and maybe hose down the street. People don't need to see…"

She just trailed off, no need to really explain further. They really didn't need blood in the streets to remind them of the people they'd lost today.

Leroy simply nodded.

"It's your call, Sheriff."

He teared up again then, stiff shoulders shaking as he turned his back on them and finally just walked away. He'd had enough for the day and so had many others.

So Emma made the call and waited until the last of the faintly pink tinted water had washed away before she finally took down the last of the yellow tape. She stuffed everything back into the boot of the Sheriff's cruiser and shut it firmly.

It's strangely quiet then, save for the cold wind that causes her to shiver and wrap her hands around her midriff.

"We've done what we could here, Emma, I think it's time we go home."

It's James, her dad. Her dad who looked no more than a year or two older than her with his blue eyes and boyish smile. It's something else she needs to think about besides the fact that fairytales, and all the mind boggling things that encompasses, are true.

"Charming is right. The people are scared and we need to discuss what happened, but I think everything is a little too _raw_ right now for that. It'll keep until tomorrow." Snow looks at her then, expression more Mary Margaret then fabled fairytale character. "Besides, I'm not naïve enough to think that any of this is easy on you. One day you woke up the sheriff of a small town and now you've slain a dragon and spent time in a place you only know from children's story books. It's a lot to take in."

Emma nods and gives her parents a lopsided smile.

"That's a mild understatement, but I can't say I'm sorry it happened." She's not sure she wants to have all the conversations they'll eventually have to have about everything that happened, but they at the very least need to know this. "I never had anything that resembled a family before and even if I don't think I'm ever going to be comfortable calling you Mom and Dad, it's wonderful to know that…I belong to someone."

Her eyes are stinging and she has to bite down hard to keep the sudden surge of emotion from spilling out of her, but she somehow manages it when Snow puts a warm hand against her cheek.

"It'll never matter what you call me, Emma, only that we're together and we love each other. That's what it means to be a family."

Emma nods again, lets Snow's words sink into her and she's surprised at the amount of comfort it brings. It also reminds her that there is one more thing that needs doing.

"Can you pick Henry up from Granny's and take him home?"

James nods as Snow's eyebrows go up in an unspoken question.

"I need to go talk to Regina."

She sits in her car for a very long time just watching the house. It's a beautiful house, the kind kids like her dreamed of growing up in even, with its trees and its large yard. She wonders what Henry's first ten years were like inside of it, wonders if he and Regina spent winter nights in front of the fireplace and summer days under her apple tree. Are all his memories of the place awful or was there a time before he got the book that he loved his mother like any other son would and they made normal, happy memories together in a place they called home.

There is a small, petty part of her that hopes not. That hopes Regina was the villain in Henry's eyes from the very start and that he never loved her like he did Emma. It's a small part though and most of her just hopes he was a happy, loved kid before all this happened. She doesn't want him to be like her that would never look at her early childhood as anything but some of the worst years of her life. No one deserved that if it could be helped.

So she pulls herself out of her thoughts and gets out of the car, walking the strangely familiar path up to the Mayor's mansion. Or she supposes she should be saying Queen, but that's not the Regina she knows. The Evil Queen somehow belongs to Snow and James in her eyes, they fought their battles with her long before Emma was even born, but the version of Regina that is Mayor Mills belonged to her.

It's with that last thought still lingering that she lets her finger gently push down on Regina's doorbell. She doesn't wait very long for the door to open.

"What do you want, Miss Swan?"

As greetings go it's not the worst she could expect from Regina, so she lets that bolster her courage a bit.

"I was hoping we could talk."

Regina purses her lips tightly for a second, hand going white knuckled where it grips the door.

"I think, Miss Swan, that even you can appreciate the fact that I've had a rather trying day, a day that will by no means be improved by your unsolicited visit." Regina's grip on the door falters, hand dropping limply to her side. "I simply don't have the fortitude for another injudicious disagreement today."

It's a lot of big words to say something that really just translates to 'I'm tired, please fuck off'. Emma gets that, she does, but she also knows that if she lets the uncertainty of the situation drag on for too long, nothing good will come from it.

"Then that's okay, because I'm not here to fight, Regina, I just wanted to…" She trails off, because knowing this is the right thing to do and _liking _having to do it are two very different things. "Just let me come in and listen to what I have to say for ten minutes and then if you want you can throw me out, okay?"

It's a testament to how tired Regina truly is when she just pushes the door open wider and walks inside, leaving Emma to close it and carefully follow her in.

"If you're intent on doing this then I'm going to need alcohol."

Emma expects her to head to her study, but instead Regina leads them to the kitchen where she indicates with a wave of her hand that Emma should take a seat.

"Can't say I'd be opposed to a glass of whatever it is you're planning on having myself."

Regina gives a wry smile as she pulls a bottle of red wine from a rack.

"No, I don't suppose you'd be."

Emma gives a wry smile of her own when a full glass is put down in front of her.

"I can live with it if that's the worst thing you can say about me, Regina, that I like to take a drink."

Regina's glass stills abruptly halfway to her mouth, eyes settling hard on Emma.

"The implication being that in comparison I'm much worse. So that's what this visit is about then? The flawless and pure of heart savior come to put me in my place?"

Regina slams her wine down hard enough for the glass to shatter, liquid spilling over the clean surface of the table between them.

"Just get out before I forget my promise to Henry and _throw_ you out!"

The threat is not an idle one, Emma can see it in Regina's shaking hands and shallow breathing.

"No, Regina, I was implying that you could have mentioned the fact that despite being destined to save the people in this town, I've mostly just managed to get a few of them killed and left us all stuck here. What about the time I got myself pregnant by a guy that didn't even care about me enough to net let me have a baby in prison?"

Emma lifts her own glass and all but drains it, old memories and hurts a sudden, painful heat in her chest.

"Or how that baby was the one good thing that could have come from it all, but I was so scared and selfish that I couldn't see past the responsibility of having to raise a kid by myself that I gave him away?"

Regina doesn't say anything, just gets up and passes the bottle of wine to Emma, then heads to the sink. Emma simply refills her glass as she watches Regina pull a large shard from her hand, watches as blood drips steadily from the cut on her palm.

"I'm not here to fight, Regina, I'm here to say I'm sorry that your mom is such a bitch. And maybe to thank you for taking care of my son for ten years and not treating him the way she obviously treated you."

Regina stills, bleeding hand held under a steady stream of cold water as the silence in the kitchen stretches out between them. Finally Emma puts her wine down, mindful of the remains of Regina's glass, and walks over to where she spots a dry dishcloth. When she takes Regina by the wrist and presses the cloth into her hand, closing the woman's fingers around it to form a fist, she knows the worst of it is over.

Regina will listen, if only because what Emma has to say is such a surprise to her.

"It wasn't selfish to want a better life for him."

Regina's words are soft, but it's a clear offer for a temporary ceasefire that Emma will gladly accept.

"No, but it doesn't change the fact that it made what should have been a very hard decision a rather easy, convenient one. It was just so logical to me that he'd be better off without an eighteen year old for a mother and I'd be better off without having to worry about keeping _two_ people alive and fed."

Emma's not sure that this exactly is what she came to say to Regina, but she knows it's making the point that needs to be made for any of this to work. Emma might not have gone to the dark side and built herself a Deathstar, but she's no Luke Skywalker either.

Maybe she's the Han Solo of the story, not really fitting in either box marked good or evil, just somewhere in the middle trying to make it from one day to the next.

"Fine, I can agree that we've both made mistakes. Now please just get to the point of it all, Miss Swan."

Emma does just that.

"You love Henry, that's the point. You love him and he loves you even though that's not something he knows how to admit right now without feeling like he's somehow _failing_ everyone, because you're their Evil Queen."

Emma finally realizes that she's still holding Regina's wrist in her hand when she can feel the woman's pulse rate spike with every word she says. She doesn't let go though, finds the physical proof that a heart beats somewhere in Regina's chest strangely comforting.

"The point is that when he heard that they wanted to kill you for what you did to the people in this town, he begged me to save your life, because you're his mom and he doesn't want to lose you."

Regina looks at her and Emma can see it, can see how much she doesn't want to lose Henry either.

"I promised him I wouldn't use my magic and I meant that."

Emma nods her head, but tightens her grip a little before she speaks again.

"I know you did, but I think that with the way things are now, you'll break that promise eventually."

Regina tries to pull away just like Emma knew she would, but her grip is firm and she steps a little closer trying to make Regina see that she meant what she was about to say.

"I'm saying that no one can do it alone, that even when you have the best intentions of making things right you're going to fail if that's all anyone expects you to do. You gotta have _someone_ on your side."

Regina swallows heavily as she tears up and Emma wonders what she's thinking right then. If she realizes the truth in what Emma is saying or if she thinks this is just another way for Emma to hurt her.

"I have Henry on my side."

That makes Emma smile, because she's a mother now and believes in all the things mothers do. Like that their child is the single most bright and wonderful thing on earth and she knows Regina thinks the same, thinks that as long as Henry believes in her she can move mountains if she needs to.

"You do, you have Henry and now you also have me. We might not like each other very much, but the fact is we're his parents, the both of us. You and me, we're his family and that's not something I'll allow anyone to take away from him if I can help it."

There's a war raging on Regina's face, it's in the way she bites her lip to stop it from quivering even as she narrows her eyes in what Emma can only guess is disgust at her. Disgust at having to share her son with the daughter of someone she has hated for so long and so passionately. Disgust at knowing it might be the only way she'll ever _have_ the love of that son.

"So you're going to play the savior after all and you're starting with me."

It's not a question, she states it as the fact they both know it is.

"I am, because Henry thinks you're worth saving and I believe him. I do, because you can't love someone as much as you love Henry and still be _completely _evil."

Regina falters then and drops her eyes away from Emma's own, but she doesn't have to see her eyes to know there's a flash of doubt in them.

"I don't think I can ever be simply good again, not even for Henry's sake, and I don't think anyone in this town would believe it if by some miracle it did happen. You're right about that at least."

Emma accepts that with a nod, takes a deep breath and finally lets Regina's wrist go as she steps back. She still feels the phantom beat of a pulse against her fingers though and gently shakes her hand once to try and rid herself of it.

"You don't need to be that good, Regina. You just need to not be that _bad_ again, I think that's all he really wants from you."

There's nothing more she can say, at least not now when Regina looks like another kind word from someone she on principle despises will undo whatever has held her together since making her promise to Henry. So Emma turns around and leaves, feeling like for the first time since breaking that damned curse she's actually gone and done something right.

When Regina stops her just before she's out the kitchen, she knows she did.

"Miss Swan, if you want to you and Henry can come for lunch tomorrow. I'll make something he likes and then we can perhaps discuss how this new arrangement would work."

Emma smiles, because despite Regina being to blame for a lot of the heartache in her life, this will make Henry happy.

"Alright, what time do you want us to swing by?"

Regina thinks for a second.

"I should have everything prepared by one, though I won't hold my breath and expect you to be punctual, so come any time after that if you can."

Emma smirks despite the sarcasm, because at least this is familiar ground between them. She couldn't say she cared much for the version of Regina that Cora seemed to bring out and much preferred her like this: Head held high and looking down her nose at Emma like she doesn't just think she's better than her, she _knows_ she is.

"I do _own_ a watch, Regina, even figured out how to read the damned thing all on my own."

Regina looks doubtful.

"Did you want a gold star for that great accomplishment dear, or would a pat on the back suffice?"

Emma doesn't bother responding to that, just rolls her eyes a little and makes her way outside to her car. Just before she pulls away from the curb she glances back to where Regina is leaning in her open doorway.

She doesn't much look like an Evil Queen then, just a very tired woman standing in the cold all by herself.

./././././././././

_Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. _

_P.S I won't be able to update again this soon, but I'll hopefully manage a chapter at least next weekend for those that are interested. _


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